


Overtones

by GoatLord



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Actual plot, Bad Puns, I'll add characters as I go along, Jock!Dean, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible smut later, Swearing, awkward boys, awkward!castiel, band nerd!castiel, because I screw up, dumb boys, expect edits, nerd!Castiel, new kid!castiel, other fandom references, puns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1674695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoatLord/pseuds/GoatLord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak is the new kid at Sioux Fall High School and a total dork, but has fallen in love with football player Dean Winchester. They meet, but relationships aren't really their forte.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Treble

**Author's Note:**

> I'll probably post a lot at first, but that will taper out.  
> Special thanks to my friends for betaing and helping me come up with titles and such.

His blue eyes wander across the field as he stood on the tips of his toes. Peering over the tall saxophonist standing in front of him, he looks at every face, squinting to see better. A figure suddenly appears next to him, blocking the sun.  
"Hey, Cas," the figure says. Cas turns, his feet now flat on the ground. He meets the green eyes that look down at him, a great sight to see but not the pair that he was looking for. "Who're you looking for?"  
Unlike Cas, Sam didn't need to stretch to see over the people in front of him. He shields those green eyes with his hand, holding his trombone with the other, scanning the people on the field.  
"It's no one," Cas says, glancing back to the field, chewing the reed on his clarinet.  
"Maybe that's why you're having a hard time finding them," Sam replied. Cas shrugged, returning to searching.  
Mr. Shurley motioned for the band to start playing before Cas could find them. Sam continued standing where he was, refusing to return to the other trombonists, and almost stabbing the saxophonist in the back with the slide of his instrument.  
They started with a short rendition of "highway to hell," by AC/DC to grab everyones attention. Cas, knowing the song by heart, not having to look at the music in front of him, noticed someone on the field cheering them on right when they started.  
Dirty blonde hair, green eyes, his freckles like the universe had etched itself into his skin; Cas blushed, hoping that the boy hadn't noticed him. They ended the song, Castiel's fingers flying across the keys, trying to figure out where the rest of the band was in the song.  
"You okay Cas?" Sam asked as he flipped the pages of the song book, the filmy plastic covering the music crinkling with every movement of his hand. "You seem kind of out of it,"  
"I'm fine," Cas replied, looking up at him. Sammy was a moose, probably the tallest kid at Sioux Falls highschool if it wasn't for the boys on the basketball team tht made Castiel look like Tyrion Lannister.  
Sam was going to reply, but Mr.Singer qued them to start before he could. They played "Crazy Train," "Back in Black," and a few other tunes, all without speaking a word to each other, then sat down after playing the school song.  
Cas put the clarinet across his lap while Sam sat the trombone on its bell in the seat next to them. The saxophonist turns around and glared at the Sam, but he ignores it.  
The players stood at their lines, waiting for the ref to start the game. Cas quickly found him again, as he wasnt as big and muscular as the other players, but still toned and strong, with freckles all over his arms too.  
Dean, people call him, a junior and a year ahead of Cas. With his jawline and big green eyes with the corners that wrinkled when he smiled. Who was totally out of Castiel's league and probably not gay, with all the girls he had supposedly dated.  
Supposedly, Cas doesn't know, he doesn't talk to anyone that really knows Dean, let alone Dean himself.  
Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, starting to sweat from the sun beating down on him, Cas realizes that he should've worn shorts.  
"Didn't you have to run the mile today?" Sam asks, trying to get his friends' attention.  
"Yeah, it was terrible," Cas groans.  
"Didnt you used to run track at your old school or something?"  
"Yeah, but I never liked it," Cas grumbles, slipping the reed off of the mouthpiece of his instrument. "Lucy told me that it looked good on college applications or whatever,"  
"Lucy? You have a sister?" Sam leans back in his seat, placing his elbow on the seat behind him.  
"Nah, it's short for Lucifer,"  
"Your parents named their kid Lucifer?" Sam's eyes widens and he smirks.  
"Angel names or whatever," Cas replies. "Besides, they named me Castiel, what kind of name is that?" It wasnt like Dean, that's for sure. Short and sweet on the tongue, like the warm sound of overtones ringing through the air.  
"I'd like a weird name, like Legolas or something," Sam replies. Suddenly he sprung up. "Shit, I forgot your books in my gym locker,"  
"That's okay," Castiel says. "Just bring 'em tomorrow, or you can go in there after the game,"  
"I can't, my brother's driving me home and I can't keep him waiting," Sam sighs.  
"I can get them," Cas shrugs.  
"You know my locker combination?" Sam's jaw opened in shock. Cas just shrugs again. "Fine, just don't touch my things,"  
The game went by quickly, Cas staring intently but not really paying attention to the game, and Sam trying to start up conversations. They all withered away as quickly as they start. The band plays again at half time, then again then at the end of the game.  
"Bye, Sam," Cas calls out to his friend, taking time to clean and put away his instrument and discarding his thoroughly chewed reed.  
"Bye," Sam says back, walking away.  
Castiel was one of the last band kids to leave the field, legs aching from standing when they played. He took his time walking to the locker rooms, not wanting to run into any of the football players, especially Dean. He has only been in South Dakota for a couple of weeks and rumors had already started that he was gay.  
Maybe it was the blue eyes, or his skinniness, or how he dresses, but Cas didn't mind, he was comfortable with who he was. The last thing he wanted was Dean to think he was a creep, though. Maybe Dean would never like him, but Cas still wanted to clutch tight to that small sliver of hope that he had a chance with Dean.  
He meanders through the hallways for a bit, cleans his glasses twice, and almost got lost, but after half an hour of reading an emergency copy of Harry Potter that he kept in his locker, he thinks that he's in the clear.  
He stumbles into the locker rooms, in a daze from Dumbledor's death. He's read that part at least five times, but he never quite got over that. He wanders through the locker room, finding locker 586, Sam's locker.  
He quickly opened it and found his copy of Lord of the Rings shoved under one of Sam's shirts. Right when he locked the locker again, a voice echoed through the hall.  
"Go on ahead of me, this will be quick," The voice says as the person charges through the locker bay.  
He bumps into Cas, knocking him over and making his clarinet and book fly onto the floor.  
"Oh, shit," The voice says. From where he stood, Cas looked up slowly.  
Blue eyes meet green and Cas comes face to face with the freckles and flushed cheeks.  
Dean.


	2. Decrescendo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bad puns continue...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter a day after the first, yay (I guess?) After this I plan on a chapter a week, maybe two.  
> Thanks to Hannah for commenting, CastielAngelOfTheBees and BlackWings_BlueEyes for kudos, and Jaqui for being my beta :)

"Oh shit," Dean says, offering a hand to help Castiel up. Castiel, not realizing that Dean is trying to help him, stood up on his own, quickly looking away from Dean's eyes. Dean rushed to grab Castiel's things and give them back. "Sorry,"  
"It's okay, I guess," Castiel mumbled, blood starting to rush to his face. "I was just leaving, anyways,"  
Dean walks to his locker and opens it as Cas set his clarinet case down on one of the benches. He looks at Dean every few seconds, at his muscles and blonde hair. Cas's fingers twitch as he examines each black piece of the instrument, making sure it wasn't cracked.  
"Is it okay?" Dean asks, tapping Cas on the shoulder, making the younger boy twitch.  
"Uh... Yeah," Castiel said, his voice shaky. "There's a chip here, but I think it's okay,"  
"That's good, I can fix anything if I broke it," Dean smiles.  
Castiel could feel Dean up against him, his body heat and scent radiating off of him, filling the air. Closing the case, face as red as a tomato, he turns around to face Dean.  
"Are you okay?" Dean asks, Castiel staring at his scuffed up converse.  
"Yeah," he says. "I'm just... tired,"  
"It's kind of late now," Dean agrees." Walk to the parking lot with me,"  
Cas looks up at Dean's face for the first time since he was knocked over. He smiles, eyes swelling with kindness.  
"Okay," Castiel says, heart pounding in his chest.  
"What's your name anyways?" Dean asks as he opens the door.  
"Castiel, but you can call me Cas, I guess,"  
"I'm Dean,"  
Cas nods. He knows, he's known pretty much the whole time he's been at the high school, but he shuts up. If he comes off as creepy, it would be game over and you can't just turn the console of life off and restore your last save.  
The lukewarm air blows across their faces as they enter the parking lot. The sun already set and the crickets chirp, filling the night with their discord. Other than that, the air was still.  
"What did you have to get from the locker rooms?" Cas asked, pulling his cardigan around him.  
Dean pulls something out of his pocket, a little golden amulet on a leather cord. "My brother gave this to me a few years ago, it's a luck thing," Dean said. "It's pretty dumb, I know,"  
Cas shrugged. "Not really," he mumbled. Dean Winchester, with his jawline and perfect hair, thinks that something he does is dumb, Cas couldn't believe it.  
"The problem is, the leather is a piece of shit so I don't want to get it wet. I wear it so often it kind of became a part of me so I forget about it, you know?" Dean stops dead in his tracks when they get to the middle of the parking lot. "Where's my car?"  
His hands quickly fly to his pockets. "Shit," Dean sighs. "My brother drove off without me," He kicks a pebble on the pavement in defeat. "I'm gonna kill him,"  
"I have a car," Castiel pipes up. "I can drive you home, if you want,"  
"Nah, I can just walk," Dean replies.  
"No really," He doesn't know what he is doing, just a couple of hours ago he wouldn't have spoken to Dean, but now he is inviting him into his car. "It's fine, you're probably tired anyways from the football game and stuff,"  
"Yeah, okay," Dean says. Castiel starts walking towards his car, checking every few seconds to see if Dean is still following him.  
Cas's car is an old, 1985 Volkswagen beetle with a chipping light blue paint job, which sometimes didn't start and made him look even more like an old man with his sweaters and glasses.  
"I like it," Dean says as he and Cas get in the car. "It has a lot of swag, like volk-swag-en,"  
Cas laughs a little, then the blush came back from realizing that Dean Winchester was in his car. The Dean Winchester. "Um, I guess, it was my brothers' old one. It's pretty okay," Castiel replies, starting the car.  
His hands start shaking slightly. Being a sophomore, Cas just got his liscence right before the Novak's moved; and with an upperclassmen, the upperclassmen of his dreams, nonetheless, watching him, Cas is nervous.  
He drives out of the parking lot, narrowly avoiding the buses that are parked. Cas mumbles profanities everytime the car jerked foreward. Luckily, there are no other cars on the road.  
"Where do you live?" Cas asks, still staring intently at the road when they stop at a red light. Dean starts firing off names and numbers that Cas can't understand. "Just tell me, like, right or left, or something,"  
"Okay, take a right," Dean says. Castiel allows himself to take a peak at Dean, who is grinning at the blue eyed boy, flashing his straight white teeth.  
It takes them half an hour of Cas getting confused and flustered and Dean's reassurances to get to the Singer Salvage Yard.  
"Singer?" Cas asks.  
"My uncle Bobby, we pretty much live with him, me and my brother," Dean answers. "Thanks for the ride, do you wanna come inside?"  
Cas starts to say no, to get out of this awkward situation, to just go back to being the gay new kid with a weird name. But he can't blow it, even if he was tired as hell and his brothers will be mad at him for staying out so long. "Yes," Castiel finally replies. Right when he says it, he instantly regrets it. "Yes," yes? That sounds to eager, he should have said "yeah," or "sure," but not "yes."  
Cas is pulled out of his thoughts when Dean takes his hand and drags him to the house. "Bobby!" He shouts.  
A man with greeting hair and a beer belly walks into the front room and smiles at Dean. "How was the game? You win?"  
"Yeah," Dean nods. "I left something in my locker, sorry I'm late. This is Cas, he drove me home,"  
Castiel waves a hand at Bobby from behind Dean.  
"You play football?" Bobby asks.  
"Uh, no, I'm in band," Castiel replies, a shy smile on his face.  
"Dean's brother is in band," Bobby replies.  
"Maybe I know him," Cas shrugged. "But I should be going, I don't want my brothers to be mad,"  
"Bye, Cas," Dean calls out as Cas walks out the door.  
He wanted to stay longer, but it was late. It's not like this is real anyways, he'll probably just wake up tomorrow realizing that this was a dream and he passed out from Dean pushing him over or something.  
Castiel gets into his car and home in a sleepy haze, counting all the times he slipped and swerved off the road.


	3. Accents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been putting this off for a couple of days now, but it's painful for me to edit my writing especially when I know people will read it. There will be mistakes and such, hopefully less than the last few chapters (sorry about that, I plan on fixing that soon, I type on an iPod so that's why there's so many mistakes.)  
> Thanks for kudos and bookmarks and views, you all are hella, thanks to RandomCuttlefish of fanfiction.net (Jaqui) for being my beta. Or shall I say bae-ta... Also extra special thanks to my bae Hannah who is my main motivation for writing this now since it's kind of bad but she likes it so I must keep writing.  
> I didn't take all of the cuttlefish advice for this because I'm very lazy, sorry .-.

Castiel rushes to one of the tables, slowly filling up as students file into the cafeteria. A red haired girl sits down next to him, wearing a green blazer so bright it burns Castiel's irises.  
"Cas!" She exclaims. "People are talking about someone driving Dean Winchester home last night,"  
Cas replays the memory in his mind, cringing at every time he screwed up when driving. "Yeah, so?" He sighs, chewing on his lip.  
"They said something about an old Volkswagen," Charlie says in a sing-songy voice. "It was you wasn't it?"  
"Yeah," Cas sighs.  
"Why are you sad? It's amazing!" Charlie grabs Cas by the shoulders and hugs him. "I'm so proud!"  
"Is Sam at this lunch?" Castiel asks as Charlie pulls away. "Do you know his schedule?"  
"No, the new semester started so everything's screwed up," Charlie says. "But I know someone who is at this lunch,"  
Castiel looks up at Charlie with an eyebrow raised. Charlie points to the middle of the cafeteria, a smirk on her face. Castiel jerks his head away as quickly as he looked.  
In the middle of the room stood Dean Winchester, the Dean Winchester, the Dean Winchester that was walking straight towards them.  
Castiel's blush spreads across his face and he quickly lays his head down on his books and covered his head. "No," he moans.  
Dean sits down across from him, knitting his eyebrows together. "You okay, Cas?"  
"He's fine, he's just the Sherlock to your John Watson," Charlie explains.  
"Charlie!" Castiel whines as he gets up. He looks at Dean, who is increasingly getting more confused.  
"It means that your advances will eventually be noticed but you have to be persistent," Charlie explains, grabbing Castiel's hand when he tries to stop her.  
Dean gives a nervous chuckle. "Well, I never said thank you for last night," he says. "If you need a ride, just call me, anytime."  
"Okay," Castiel replies, his voice cracking in the middle, making him want to bury his face into his books again. "But I don't know your phone number,"  
Charlie smiles and Cas realizes what he just did, but he couldn't back away now. "If I needed to call you... Or something," Castiel finishes.  
Dean laughs and gets up, walking behind Castiel and ruffling his hair, setting a slip of paper in front of him. "Bye, Cas," He says as he walks away.  
The two walk watch as he strolls away, running up the stairs two at a time. Once he is out of sight, Cas realizes that he is shaking. He carefully unfolds the paper, fingers barely working and managing to drop it a few times.  
There was ten numbers carefully printed and "Dean" written on the bottom of it with a smiley face. "It's not a heart, but you'll get there soon enough," Charlie says, looking over Cas's shoulder.  
"Fuck off!" Castiel says exasperated, burying his face in his hands.  
They quickly finish their lunch, Cas not even finishing his sandwhich. "What's your next class?" He asks.  
"Home ec, you?" Charlie replies.  
"French 2,"  
"We still have band together," Charlie replies. "Sorry I couldn't sit near you last night, it's kinda hard to carry a sousaphone around,"  
Cas shrugs just as the bell rang. They discard their lunches and rush to find their next class.

~~~

Castiel, being the first person in the French classroom, finds a seat in the very back of the room. He cracks open a book and starts reading, being careful not to bend the spine.  
People stroll into the room, lots of sophomores and a few juniors and even some seniors. It's not until he hears a familiar voice that he goes rigid.  
"Cas!" Dean exclaims, quickly taking the seat next to Cas. "What'cha reading?"  
"It's nothing," Castiel replies, voice shaky from being caught off gaurd. "Game of Thrones."  
"Oh, cool, I watch the show," Dean replies. "What's happening?"  
"I'm farther in than the show is, I'd hate to ruin it for you," Cas says as he sets the book down. The corner of the piece of paper with Dean's number on it poked him in the chest and he remembers that he hasn't put the number in his phone yet.  
"Quiet down," the teacher barks when the bell rings.  
She starts firing off questions and writing things on the board. Castiel sits uncomfortably in his seat while Dean leans back in his chair and twirls his pencil in his hand.  
"Mr. Novak," She says, looking at her class list. Cas perks up in his seat as Dean and some sophomores turn around to face him. "What does this word mean?"She points to a word on the board.  
L'avocat. Cas squints behind his glasses like that will help him understand it better. "We don't have all day, Mr. Novak," She stares Cas down.  
"Uh... Male avocado?" Cas blurted as he panicked. Giggles peppered the class and the teacher sighs. Dean chuckles and playfully punches Cas in the arm.  
"No, Mr. Novak," She said in her stern voice. Dean raises his hand.  
"It means lawyer," he says.  
"Good, but make sure I call on you next time," She says, erasing the word. She quizzes people for the next few minutes and then hands out papers.  
"I want you to turn to the person sitting next to you and try to figure out these words," she says. "But be quiet,"  
Dean quickly turns to Castiel. "How do you know that?" Castiel says as they go through the list. "I don't remember any of this stuff from last year,"  
Dean shrugs. "Languages are fun, Bobby taught me Latin when I was younger,"  
"Cool," Cas says with a smile. The bell rings before they could get through the entire list.  
"You can finish it in class tomorrow," the teacher calls out as they quickly shove their things into their bags and rush out the door.  
"What do you have next?" Cas asks as Dean puts his bag on. He turns to Cas, making him look away.  
"Math, I think," He pulls a crumpled sheet of paper out of his pocket. "Yeah, math. What about you?"  
"Band," Castiel replies as they start to walk out to the room, wondering why the piece of paper Dean gave him was so pristine while he just balled up his schedule.  
"That's on the other side of the school," Dean says, clicking his teeth together. "I would walk you, but I can't. See you tomorrow, unless you need a ride,"  
"Bye!" Cas calls out as they part ways, realizing that the whole time his face was bright red as he passed the trophy case in the hall.  
"How was French, Cas?" Charlie asks as he walks into the band room.  
"Terrible," Castiel replies, taking his clarinet out of his bag.  
"Dean's in your class?" Charlie says.  
"Yeah, how did you know?" Castiel assembles the instrument, his hands still shaking from his conversation with Dean.  
"I didn't, but I know now," Charlie replies. "Game club today, okay, bitch," She says as she goes to get her tuba.  
Most of band passes without any eccentricities, except one of the members squeaking which made Cas jump. No Dean, no driving, nothing but the melodic sounds of notes and smashing keys.  
Even thinking about those green eyes, how close they were in French, it was enough to make him smile, then hate himself for looking so stupid. That mistake with the avocado... At least Charlie wasn't there. She would have never let that go if she was.  
"Castiel," Mr. Shurley said. "Cas. Cas?"  
Castiel is pulled back into the physical plane at the voice. "Wait, what?"  
Mr. Shurley rolls his eyes and lifts the baton again. "Measure 81," he says.  
"He's probably just swooning over Dean," Crowley whispers from behind him as he starts playing. People laugh as Mr. Shurley gives a stern look to Crowley.  
The bell rings before they could finish the section and they all scramble to get their instruments put away.


	4. Fermata

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of early, but due to finals and such I decided to get this out of the way now in case I forget it. I'm sorry I haven't been able to put your usernames here but I have to do this stuff fairly quickly .-.  
> Also my beta can't really beta for a week or two, but I'll make it work somehow. I'm determined to see this through till the end c:

Charlie's face spread into a smile as their game neared the end. Sam slapped down his cards in defeat as Cas tried to find a way to save it.  
"You reached zero, I win," Charlie states, scribbling out Cas and Sam's last number and drawing a zero.  
"I haven't played this in a while..." Castiel mutters under his breath. Kevin chuckles and faces the three.  
"I heard you had an encounter with Dean Winchester at lunch," Kevin says, leaning his face on his arm. Kevin is only a freshman, compared to the trios sophomore status, but since Castiel had transferred he wasn't the new guy anymore.  
"How does everyone know about that?" Castiel moans, grabbing his cards and putting them back in his deck. "Also, how do you beat both of us in Magic?"  
"Skill," Charlie replies, a victorious smile still on her face. "And most people do know. Perfect repunzel-eyed Dean Winchester and hella gay new kid sitting together at lumch and in class, these things get around, Cas,"  
"I'm not that gay," Castiel says.  
"You'll admit it soon enough," Charlie says. "With the whole 'be the Margery Tyrell to my Sansa Stark attitude,' actually, no, that's just a ton of unneeded sexual tension,"  
Trying to distract himself, Cas tries to shuffle and ends up spilling the cards all over the table.  
"How does someone with such nimble fingers screw so many things up?" Sam asks, following Cas's lead and stacking the cards. "Kevin, play with me next round,"  
"Against Charlie? No thanks," Kevin takes his laptop and sets it on the table that the three were playing on. "You don't want Cas on your team?"  
"He's not that bad," Charlie explains. "He's just using a white deck, it's kind of hard for beginners," She shrugs. A few juniors overhear them and engage in a humorous banter of dick jokes. Crumpling the piece of paper that they were scoring on, she throws the ball, hitting one of them on the head.  
"My uncle's probably waiting for me, anyways," Sam says. "You guys could come with me, I guess,"  
"I could give you a ride, if you need it," Cas offers.  
"Yeah, okay," Sam says, shoving his things into the leather messenger bag at his feet.  
"Time to get fucking owned, Kev," Charlie says, shuffling the cards in her hands, a sly look in her eyes.  
"Save me," Kevin replies, turning to Sam.  
"Take one for the team, man," Sam shrugs, patting Kevin on the shoulder as the two walk out of the classroom.  
They get into the car, Castiel starting the engine. "Where's your house, like, tell me to turn left or right," Cas says, replaying last night in his head. It felt like it was weeks ago, yet it hasn't even been twenty four hours.  
Cas drives, feeling as if he has made these turns before. He brushes it off as being in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Maybe his eyesight was getting worse, maybe he just couldn't pick out details easily.  
"Take a right here," Sam says. Cas nods and makes the turn, chewing his lip as the car hums across the long stretch of pavement.  
Oh shit, Castiel thinks as he gets close enough to read the familiar sign.  
Singer Salvage Yard.  
Dean.  
"What?!" Castiel exclaims as they pull up to the house.  
"Dude, I don't live in a dump, there's a house," Sam tries to reassure him.  
"No, I mean, like?" Castiel tries to coerce his thoughts into making sense, yet he can't find the words. "Sam... Winchester?"  
"Yeah, what?" Sam turns to the flustered boy.  
"Like, Dean Wincester?!" Castiel screeches.  
"Yeah," Sam's eyes widened. "He's my brother, I thought you knew,"  
"What?" Castiel says again. "I never really got your last name, to be honest,"  
Sam sighs. "Just, come inside,"  
"But, what about Dean?" He hides his face in his hands.  
"He's at football practice, it'll be fine," Sam reassures as he gets out of the car. Castiel follows, stepping out of the car into the cool, humid day.  
Mist coats the grass and leaves and the smell of oncoming rain fills the air as clouds accumulate overhead. Cas inhales as his oxfords hit the pavement. He follows his friend up the walkway, the shake returning to his hands. How does he even hold and instrument, anyways?  
Sam opens the door into the house, the familiar scent of old books and candle wax fill Cas's lungs as he walks inside.  
"Bobby, I'm home," Sam calls out. "I have a friend over, I hope you don't mind,"  
Castiel follows Sam up the stairs, feeling like he just entered a dragon's cave and he's about to see the beast at any moment. He opens one of the doors, painted white, paint chipping off the door frame.  
The room, presumably Sam's room, was pretty clean. A bookshelf sat in the corner, books almost spilling off of it. Figures of soldiers and dragons stood on top in rows. There was a desk, Sam's laptop perched on top, and pushed up against one wall was a bunk bed.  
"Don't tell me you share a room," Castiel says.  
"Don't worry, dude," Sam holds his hands up in a 'calm your tits' gesture. "We used to, but he sleeps in the guest room now, it's not like we get many guests anyways,"  
Castiel exhaled in relief as he goes to sit on Sam's bed. "Why didnt you ever tell me that your brother is Dean Winchester?"  
"It's kind of awkward when he's my brother and you're my friend," Sam replies, sitting down on the chair near the desk.  
"Is it the gay thing?" Cas wonders aloud.  
"The gay thing?"  
"You know, like, the gay thing," Castiel tries to explain.  
"Oh, no, I've known Charlie for years, and it's never been weird," Sam replies.  
"Oh, okay, good,"  
The boys sit in silence for a moment and Cas looks around, finding a stuffed dog on Sam's bed and hugging it to his chest.  
"Don't touch that," Sam says, reaching over to smack Cas's hand. Cas ignores him.  
"So is Dean...," Castiel starts, "You, know, a gay thing?"  
"He's dated a lot of girls, I know," Sam thinks. "But, I don't know, we've all experimented,"  
"'We've?' Does that mean it includes you?" Cas's eyes widened.  
Sam gives a nervous smile, glancing to the side a little. "Okay, maybe a little, but you know, never a serious relationship, you know?"  
"Oh, okay," Cas replies, still holding Sam's stuffed dog. There is another long bout of silence. "Who was it?"  
"What?" Sam asks.  
"You know, like-" Castiel started, but the sound of a garage door opening interrupts him. "Oh, no. Is that Dean?"  
"Don't worry, dude," Sam reassures him. "He won't see you if you just stay here,"  
But what if I want him too see me? Cas thought. "Can you just, like, teach me how to play the game?" He digs through his bag to pull out the Magic deck.  
"Okay, you just... get seven cards," Sam explains. "Do you have land? If you don't, put them back, but only draw six,"  
Cas tries to focus on the game, every now and then his eyes wandering to the door, silently pleading. He doesn't know if he wants Dean to enter the room or not, but he chews his lip, wanting something to happen.  
"Cas," Sam says. "Cas? Are you okay?"  
Castiel looks back at Sam quickly. "Hm? Oh, yeah, I just... need to go to the bathroom," he lies.  
"It's down the hall," he replies. Cas nodded and got up from the bed, stubbing his toe on a leg of the bed when he walks out, almost tripping.  
Castiel plans on sitting in the hall for a minute, but he quickly realizes that that would be really strange. His feet pad across the carpeted floor as he stares at his feet.  
"Cas?" A voice asks. Not Sam. He turns to the voice, towards an open door and a figure laying on a bed.  
He meets Dean's eyes and jumps back a bit. "Dean?" He replies as his glasses start to fog up. Dean stands up and leans on the door frame, staring down at Cas.  
"You stalking me?" Dean asks. Cas looks back to his feet.  
"No, Sam...," Castiel tries to explain. "He was teaching me how to play a game and-"  
"I'm kidding," Dean says, ruffling Cas's hair. "Everyone's talking about us, Cas,"  
Castiel looks up at Dean, who had kneeled over so their faces were mere inches apart. He catches something in his eyes, the blank stare, and looks behind Dean to see the beer bottle on his bedside table.  
"Everyone thinks you're gay, Cas," Dean whispers. "Are you? I hope you are," he places his hand under Cas's chin, rubbing his thumb over Cas's cheek. "You're beautiful, Cas,"  
"Are you drunk?" Castiel mumbles. "You can't be drunk,"  
"Not drunk, Cas," Dean says, using his other hand to pull Cas's glasses off.  
"Hey...," Cas reaches to grab them, squinting from not being able to see.  
Dean hands them back to Cas, but grabs his wrist as he goes to put them back on. "No," He says and Castiel's arm goes limp. He can smell Dean, the scent of sweat, cologne, mint gum, and leather. "Open your eyes Cas,"  
"Can't see...," Castiel replies. "Dean, your drunk, stop,"  
"I love you, Cas," Dean whispers as he leans closer, kissing Cas's pink lips. Dean's lips curl into a smile as he runs his tongue across Cas's lower lip.  
Once Dean pulls away, Castiel gasps for air. He looks up at Dean, his mouth wide open.  
"I'm sorry," Dean whispers.  
Castiel runs down the hall, past Sam's room, down the stairs, and out the door without so much as a "goodbye." Not wanting to go back into the house, he gets into the car and drives off without even looking back.


	5. Grace Notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to my bae Hannah because it's her birthday today c:  
> Got this beta'd, the next one won't be probably but after that one they will be.

The front door slams shut, echoing through the Novak household, the sound of Castiel's feet gently slapping the wooden floors follows. He tiptoes to the living room, biting his lip as a floorboard creaks. Toeing his socks off, he sits on the couch, twitching when he realizes that his shoes aren't there. Sighing, he remembers that he left them at the Winchester's house.  
Winchester's, multiple Winchester's, because they are brothers. Castiel's heart sinks in his chest, how could he have forgotten Sam's last name? How did he not realize earlier? "This is dumb," he mumbles into one of the throw pillows sitting on the couch.  
"What's dumb?" The sound of work boots on wood trail in from the front room. Castiel's arms tighten around the pillow he holds as he lies down on the couch, trying to conceal himself from his brother.  
"Nothing," Cas mumbles.  
The footsteps get closer and Cas's brother pull the pillow out of his arms. "What's dumb, Cassy?"  
"You're dumb," Castiel says, face as hard as stone. "My name's Cas."  
"That's rude," Gabriel says, lips pulled into a cheeky smile. He threw the pillow back at Cas, a bit too hard. "Now, what's wrong, Cassy?"  
"Nothing, it's stupid," Castiel replies, burying his face in the fabric again.  
"Is it about that Winchester boy?" Gabriel asks, sitting down in front of Cas.  
He peeks out over the pillow. "How do you know about that?" Castiel says, the corners of his mouth twisting into a frown.  
"I thought everyone knew," Gabriel chuckled. "So, what happened?"  
"Nothing!" Castiel hides his face again. "It's just... weird. Like, his brother is my best friend and, you know, that's weird,"  
Gabriel shrugs. "It won't be awkward if you do both of them,"  
"What?!" Castiel's eyes widen. "That would be, like, indirect incest!"  
"But at the same time..."  
"That's actual incest!"  
"I mean, as long as you don't throw a child out a window..." Gabriel's eyes trail off to the side as he leans back on the palms of his hands. He jumps when Castiel throws the pillow at him, hitting him in the face.  
Gabriel chuckles. "Is it just that that's bugging you?" The younger Novak sighs,  looking up at the ceiling, away from Gabriel. "So, no?" Gabriel asks. "Just tell me,"  
"I can't," Cas says.  
"Why not, Cassy? It's not like you guys kissed or anything," Gabriel says. Castiel looks away, chewing his lip again, blood rushing to his face. "Did you? You did, didn't you?"  
"No!" Castiel yells, then hides his face in his hands. "I mean, kind of. I guess, yes?"  
"How can you kind of kiss someone? Unless...?" Gabriel says. He squints, thinking. "Castiel! First date too!"  
"What?!" Castiel sits up, eyes widening. "What are you saying?!"  
Gabriel leans closer. "How big was it?" He whispers.  
"How big was wha-" Castiel's face goes from confusion to horror in seconds. His jaw drops open as he tries to kick Gabriel. "Not like that you dumb fuck!"  
Gabriel caught Castiel's foot before it could hit him. "That's bad language, Castiel," Gabriel closes his eyes, shaking his head.  
"You just implied that I sucked his dick!" Castiel slumps back in the couch with such force that he could feel the couch jolt backwards a bit.  
"How else could you sort of kiss someone?" Gabriel says, letting to of Cas's feet. "Like, a cheek kiss or something?"  
"No, but that would be a better conclusion to jump to," Castiel says. "I kissed him, well... He kissed me, but it wasnt a real kiss because he was drunk, and stuff, you know?"  
"So you did kiss him?" Gabriel says. Castiel nods, the vivid memory of Dean's unfocused eyes and slurred speach surfacing, reminding him of another person. Castiel looks to the floor, drawing his knees up to the couch to curl around them.  
"Yeah..." He mumbles, suddenly feeling hollow inside.  
"What's wrong?" Gabriel asks, getting up and sitting on the couch with Cas.  
"He was drunk, Gabriel," Castiel murmurs. "You know, like dad and everything..."  
Gabriel frowns. "Still thinking about that, huh?" He wraps his arm around his brother. Cas leans in closer, burying his face in Gabriel's shirt.  
"Yeah," Cas says. He shouldn't be so scared, so vulnerable around Gabe right now. Especially since Cas just kissed the boy that he had been pining over. He wasnt pining for too long, but Dean actually kissed him. Dean actually liked him, a football player a year ahead of him and everyone thought Dean was straight. Castiel should be ecstatic, but Dean was drunk and alcohol and Cas went together like a bassoon in a rock song.  
"It's okay," Gabriel sighs. "He's nothing like dad, don't worry,"  
Cas tensed up at mention of their father, his hand trailing to Gabe's arm around him. He traced the scars on Gabe's arms, some thin and a few thicker, scar tissue sticking up at grotesque angles. Gabe pulls his arm away from Castiel's hand.  
"Don't, Cas," Gabriel murmurs.  
"Sorry," Castiel says. "But, you know, I hated him and Dean was drunk... I don't want him to end up like that,"  
"You guys can work it out tomorrow," Gabriel replies.  
"But it was so awkward," Castiel complains. "How am I supposed to see him again without dying from embarrassment,"  
"Take off your glasses, then you won't see him," Gabriel jokes.  
"That's not funny!" Castiel cries out as Gabe chuckled.

~~~

His blurred vision is further obscured by the darkness and the feeling of being unreal. Feet trudged across the floor, blue eyes darting to every stain implanted on the floor, barely visible in the darkness but as vivid as could be in the boys' mind. The door creaked as he entered the room and he stumbles over objects in his way, tripping and falling mere inches from the bed with a loud thump.  
The lump of blankets and shaggy brown hair jerked up, breath and heart rate quickly speading up. He squints at the smaller boy on the floor. "Cas?"  
Castiel gets back up, stumbling to the bed. "Can't sleep," he mumbled, climbing into bed with Gabe.  
"What was that?!" A voice yelled into the night. The sound of bedsprings jumping back into place and feet stomping on the ground follow from next door.  
The boys look at each other in shock, eyes widened. "Fuck," Gabriel mouthed.  
A fist pounded at the door. "Get out here, boy," the voice shouted, his words slurred.  
"Dad?" Cas mouthed.  
Gabe nodded back. "I'll handle him," He whispered, getting out of bed and walking out of the room, back straight and hands balled into fists.  
A string of shouts and profanities followed, echoing through the house, Gabe and their dad shouting at each other. Cas covered his ears, tears starting to form in his eyes.  
Skin hitting skin breaks through the shouts and everything is silent. The crescendo is over, but the tension still stays, chilling Cas to the bone, his limbs growing stiff and heavy. Gabriel walked into the room moments later, blood and tears streaming down his face in sickening rivers, but not making a sound.

~~~

Cas's eyes jolt open, darting around, surroundings slowly being established as he jerks up. Sweat pools on his forehead, sticking to his neck. He pulls his shirt over his head, revealing his skinny body as he dries his face and neck off.  
His pale, shaky hand reaches for his glasses, breath heavy and rapid, heart beating fast and loud. Thoughts like an orchestra out of time and tune, sounding and feeling like mud and needles, he got out of bed and pulled another shirt over his head. Exiting the stuffy bedroom quickly, he headed to the bathroom, running water over his face. His eyes were bloodshot, bags forming underneath them and in the bathroom mirror, feeling his chewed up cheeks and heavy limbs, he realized just how dumb he felt that he is.  
It was stupid now that he is awake, the dreams weren't real anymore and he could never be dragged back into the fights and alcahol and shitty homes against his will. But then again, it all felt so real, the chill in his spine and the lead in his bones, the glint of moonlight off of tears and blood.  
"Ugh," Cas groans, drying his face again with a towel and putting his glasses back on.  
"Cas?"  
Cas turns, meeting the eyes of his older brother. Expecting Gabe, he was surprised at the blonde hair and scar covered face that met him.  
"Hm?" Cas said, looking at Lucifer.  
"What's wrong?" Lucifer said, voice a low growl. The scars on his face were more visible in the annoying flourescent lights, remnants of a motorcycle accident he had when he was younger.  
"Nothing, I was just going to the bathroom," Castiel set the towel down, walking out of the bathroom and flicking off the lights.  
"Castiel," Lucifer said. "What's wrong?"  
"I already told you, it's nothing,"  
"You're never like this when nothing is happening," Lucifer said, following Cas as he walked down the hall.  
"I'm fine, it was just a long day," Castiel said.  
Lucifer raised his eyebrows at Cas, a worried expression, before sighing. He turned around and left, leaving Cas by himself, the dark of night closing around him once again.


End file.
